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Sheffield Wednesday logo
Championship
Aug 16, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Derby logo

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Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County

Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Derby, who both won their opening matches of the season.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to improve their already impressive start to the season this weekend when they host Derby County at Hillsborough on Saturday.

The Owls produced something of a surprise result in their opening match of the campaign last weekend, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 at the Amex Stadium in what was Sami Hyypia's first game in charge of the Seagulls.

Things don't get any easier for Stuart Gray's side as they take on a Derby side tipped for automatic promotion next, but he will have taken huge confidence from how his side have started the 2014-15 campaign.

Wednesday made it two wins from two on Tuesday with a commanding victory over Notts County in the League Cup, keeping a second clean sheet in the process.

For a team that made such a poor start last season, amassing a decent number of points in the early stages this time around could enable them to push on and challenge for a top-half finish.

Gray has moved to add further firepower to his front line as well, signing Stevie May from St Johnstone, and the new boy could feature this weekend having missed the Notts County clash.

One player who will not be involved is Dejan Kelhar, however, after the new signing was ruled out for most of the season with a knee injury.

Derby have also made a promising start to the season as they look to get over the heartbreak of having missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the dying stages of the playoff final last term.

They were forced to wait for the winner against newly-promoted Rotherham United in their opening match of the campaign, but it duly arrived with eight minutes remaining courtesy of Jeff Hendrick.

It may not have been the most convincing of victories for a team that is expected to be challenging at the top of the table, but an early three points on the board will certainly please manager Steve McClaren.

The boss wasn't happy with his side in midweek, however, despite progressing into the second round of the League Cup with a 2-0 win over Carlisle United.

The Rams squandered a number of good chances throughout the match before finally sealing the victory in the 93rd minute through Chris Martin.

George Thorne remains absent with a knee injury this weekend, while Jamie Ward and Leon Best are both pushing for starts, but McClaren could opt to name an unchanged side.

Recent form

Sheff Weds: WDLDWW

Derby: WLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Sheff Weds: Westwood; Palmer, Lees, Loovens, Mattock; Maguire, Coke, Hutchinson, Maghoma; Lee; May

Derby: Grant; Christie, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Bryson, Hughes, Hendrick; Dawkins, Martin, Russell

Sports Mole says: 1-2


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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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Jeff Hendrick of Derby in action during the Sky Bet Championship Playoff Final match between Derby County and Queens Park Rangers at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2014
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd37247652282477
2Leeds UnitedLeeds362210472234976
3Burnley372015250113975
4Sunderland371912655342169
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom371317747331456
6Coventry CityCoventry37168135248456
7Bristol City37131594740754
8Middlesbrough37158145748953
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn36157144137452
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds37149145358-551
11Norwich CityNorwich371213125952749
12Watford36147154650-449
13Millwall361212123637-148
14Queens Park RangersQPR371111154248-644
15Preston North EndPreston37917113743-644
16Swansea CitySwansea36128163846-844
17Portsmouth36119164457-1342
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd36912153753-1639
19Hull City36910173645-937
20Stoke CityStoke36812163650-1436
21Cardiff CityCardiff37812174061-2136
22Derby CountyDerby3798203749-1235
23Luton TownLuton3797213460-2634
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth36612183673-3730


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